Protect the Park – Remove the Dam – Restore the Stream

It’s a dam, not a bridge.

Broomall’s Dam on Third Street is often called a “bridge.” In fact, it is a high hazard dam with a road on top of it. Some people focus exclusively on reopening the road while ignoring the economic, environmental, and public safety consequences of replacing and maintaining a high hazard dam.

Replacing Broomall’s Dam is:

• UNSAFE
A newly constructed dam will be classified as “Level 1 High Hazard.” This classification has nothing to do with the dam’s condition. It means that dam failure could result in the loss of human life and extensive property damage.

No matter how much care is taken during construction, a 29 foot tall earthen dam has inherent risks. Do we really want a high hazard dam above a public park where our neighbors, children and families will be at risk?

• UNNECESSARY
Most taxpayer funded dams are built for a compelling public purpose such as producing electricity, storing a large volume of drinking water, or providing public recreation. Replacing Broomall’s Lake dam will provide NO public benefit at all.

• UNFAIR
Supporters of replacing Broomall’s Dam want to spend up to $4 million of taxpayers’ money to preserve a small lake for a private Country Club. At the same time, replacing the dam will permanently damage a section of a public park and a stream. Spending public dollars for private gain and public loss is unfair.

Removing the dam would settle these issues once and for all, replacing a burden with a gift for future generations.

Across Pennsylvania and the United States, dams are being removed and streams are being restored as an economic and environmental best practice. Removing the dam is the best economic, environmental, and public safety policy.

• RESTORE the stream
Before Judge Broomall built a dam on his property in 1883, the stream of Broomall’s Run flowed unimpeded to Ridley Creek.

Removing the dam will restore Broomall’s Run to its natural state, allowing for improved water quality, greater connectivity for wildlife, and healthy sediment flow.

• RECONNECT neighborsWe don’t need to replace the dam to connect Media and Upper Providence; we can remove the dam and build a bridge for that purpose.

Friends of Glen Providence Park supports an environmentally sensitive design that connects the two municipalities and encourages a community dialogue about bridge options.

This is the text of the flyers that Friends of Glen Providence Park distributed around Media Borough in the summer of 2013. For the text of the dam removal flyer we distributed in winter 2012, click here.

Learn more about:

Broomall’s Dam history and news on our website, using the Categories, Tags and Search feature to the right, and menu bar above, for information including:
– Our position on dam removal
– Documentation of the 1.1 Acre of park that would be destroyed by dam replacement

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2 Comments

I really hope and pray that they choose the right thing to do and restore the park*! I practically grew up in that park and now as a soon to be mother, I can’t wait to bring my daughter to glen providence park. It brings tears and hurts my heart to think that that may not be an option if the individuals in charge don’t make the right decisions. The plan to restore the creek also brings tears to my eyes because it sounds so beautiful and I can just envision my daughter playing in the park as I did when I was a young child. Please do the right thing people* restore! I’m a quiet reserved person, and i like to stay out of things, but this is important* so if there is anything I can do let me know whoever. :)

Theresa, thanks for sharing your memories of the park and your interest in helping. We agree that this is an important issue! If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer in the park, please email friendsoftheglen@gmail.com, or sign up for our newsletter on the home page of the website. Best wishes for a healthy and happy birth!